
Qass'E.^ QT 
Book .Gs2.P7 



A MEMOIR 

L/C , 37/71 



L ^ 



OP 



Gren, CMstoplier Gradsden, 



r:ead before the 



South Carolina Historical Society, 

By F. A. PORCHER, 

president south CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OP THE SOCIETY. 
O 



CHARLESTON, S. C. 

THE JOURNAL OP COMMERCE JOB OFFICE, 
No. 2(J Chalmers Street. 

] 878. 



£1 ^o'l 



Memoir of Gen. Christopher Gadsden. 



As I pass in review tlie history of 
Soutli Carolina and the illustrious men 
whose precepts, but still more whose ex- 
amples made her what she was, I liave 
always regarded Christoplier Gadsden as 
one of the noblest of that noble band. 
His was the stern virtue which we were 
long taught lo believe, characterized the 
ancient Spartan, tempered by the mild 
influences of the modern Christian. He 
was perhaps, what in our degenerate 
/ days would be called an impracticable 
man; that is, a man who could not bend 
from the dictate of principle to that of 
polii;y, and could therefore, be neither a 
good party leader, nor even a good party 
man. He followed always the impulse 
of incorruptible honesty, and was the 
impersonation of the most exalted chiv- 
alry. Fear and favor were alike foreign 
to Ills nature. He i-espected himself, 
and reverenced his Creator. Duty had no 
more obedient follower; truth no more 
devoted servant. Enthusiastic even to 
, rashness in the cause of American Inde- 
\ pendence, his capacious heart beat as 
keenly for the wrongs of Massachusetts 
as for the insults to Carolina. He served 
his whole country with his whole heart, 
and when he died and his remains were 
committed to the keeping of his mother 
9arth, she closed upon the noblest heart 
that ever beat with love for his country's 
virtues, or bled at witnessing the out- 
rages which were heaped upon her de- 
voted bosom. 

More than seventy years have passed 
since lie was removed from the sight of 
man, and few memorials are left to record 
his acts. A meagre account of his life is 
to be found in the chapter of biographical 
notices in Ramsay's fIistor3' of South 
Carolina, and tradition has preserved a 
few anecdotes. In essaying at this time 
totrace the history of'his life, I cannot 
promise to add anj^thing new. I can in- 
corporate into the memoir some of the 
K anecdotes, and a _fo£tunate chance has 
\ put me in possession of some letters 
( which shed a bright, but a transient light 
upon a portion of his history. While in 
this Centennial year men are everywhere 
celebrating the praises of the dead" of old 
times, no titter theme can be selected for 
Charleston than Christopher Gadsden, 
and in the humble hope of reviving his 
memory, I offer to the Historical Society 
this contribution to the history of our 
State, as exemplified in the life of one of 
her illustrious sons. 

Christopher Gadsden was born in 
Charlestown, in 1724. His father w\as 
Thomas Gadsden, a Lieutenant in the 



Royal Navy, and the King's Col- •• 
lector for the Port of Charleston. 

Sent to England ft)r instruction, he re- 
ceived a classical education, to which he 
subsequently added a knowledge of some 
of the oriental tongues. Returning from 
England as a passenger on board a King's 
ship, the purser died, and JNIr. Gadsden 
was appointed to take his place, and con- 
tinued to hold it for about two years. He 
then left the service and devoted himself 
to mercantile life, which he followed 
with great success in Charleston. Like 
many other merchants of this time and 
place, he was also engaged in the occu- 
pation of a planter. It was whilst en- 
gaged in these pursuits that he construct- 
ed the wharf which still bears his name. 
This kind of architecture seems to have 
pleased him, and to have called out his 
mechanical powers. In 1776, when Gen. 
Lee insisted on the necessity of having a 
bridge from Sullivan's Island to Had- 
drell's Point, so as to furnish an escape for 
the troops under Moultrie and Thomp- 
son in case of disaster, Mr. Gadsden, 
then Colonel Gadsden, in command at 
Port Johnson, undertook the work, and 
from his own resources and his own 
money, in a very few days, completed the 
desired work. 

In 1759 when Governor Lyttleton made 
bis expedition against the Cherokees, 
there was not a single field piece mount- 
ed in all Carolina. Mr. Gadsden, who was 
a member of the Legislature, obtained 
the passage of an act for raising a com- 
pany of artillery. He was appointed the 
Captain of this company, and at the head 
of it, accompanied the Governor into the 
Indian territory. This was the origin of 
what, after many changes and enlarge- 
ments, was afterwards known as the 
Ancient Battallion of Artillerv. 

It is well-known that the unwise con- 
duct of Governor Lyttelton resulted in a 
peace so hollow, that at the very moment 
that the people of Charleston were giving 
him the honors of a triumphal entry on 
his return, hostilities more frightful than 
ever were recommenced in the interior. 
In 1761 a well ordered expedition, com- 
manded by Colonel Grant, of the regular 
army, with a detachment of British 
troops, aided by the South Carolina mili- 
tia under Colonel Middleton, effectually 
subdued the turbulent Cherokees and 
gave peace to the country. I am not able 
to find Mr. Gadsden's name among the 
officers of this expedition. In Colonel 
Middleton's subordinates were Moultrie, 
Marion and Pinckney, who afterwards 
distinguished themselves in the war of 






the Revolution. It is more than lilcel y 
that the artillery company was then un- 
der the command of its founder. 

On a careful revision of the history of 
the country befoi-e the outbrealc of the 
war of the Revolution, it would seem that 
two causes were at work in the several 
colonies which harmonized witli each 
other, and brought the North and South 
to act together. The question of taxation 
as such taken by itself was not sufficient 
to justify war, for surely, never was a 
people in Christendom so little disturbed 
by the tax collector. It is true that the 
conduct of our ancestors has been put on 
the lofty ground of principle. It was 
not the amount actually involved, but 
the possibilities of the future which 
guided our statesmen. I doubt whether 
a prosperous people would ever exercise 
s© much self-denial as to hazard their 
prosperity because of a transient, and at 
the worst, rather vexatious stretch of 
power. The causes lay deeper than in 
this apparently lofty principle, and it 
pleased Providence to afflict England at 
that critical moment with an obstinate 
and conceited King and vain and unwise 
Ministers. Had cotnuion sense gov- 
erned the counsels of England, the epoch 
of colonial independence might have 
been indefinitely deferred. 

England was using her colonies for 
her own purposes, and the fostering of 
her own industry. In the Northern 
colonies she saw not only possible, but 
actual rivals in her own peculiar line of 
industry, and her jealousy was clearly 
shown by an order which limited the 
number of apprentices that any master 
workman in the colonies might enter- 
tain. The people of New England there- 
fore had real causes of complaint against 
the mother country, and the British Gov- 
ernment acted with consummate folly, 
when by the irritating and vexatious 
Writs of Assistance, followed by the greed 
of petty gain which proposed to raise a 
revenue by a tax on stamped paper, they 
gave the colonists a plausible ground for 
resisting both the tax and the harassing 
and vexatious restrictions Avhich had re^ 
strained their social and industrial 
growth. 

At the South the case was different, 
their productions fed the commerce of 
England and soon were even encouraged 
by bounties. The restrictions on trade 
and industry were uncared for, because 
they conflicted with no priyate interests. 
South Carolina in particular was a pet of 
the mother country. In 1773 Josiah 
Quinc^, of Boston, visited Charlestown 
and saw commercial activity, wealth 
and magnificence, which he did not be- 
lieve to exist in America. In this har- 
bor were upwards of three hundred and 
fifty vessels of merchants. The hospi- 
tality which he largely enjoyed, showed 
in every house luxury and wealth such 
as he had never conceived. At a concert 
of the St. Cecilia Society he saw upwards 
of two hundred and fifty ladies. The 
music of the concert was ravishing. 
Three members of the permanent band 
were employed at a salary of five hun- 



5 

X 



dred guineas a year, and another musi- 
cian was occasionally employed at fiftv 
guineas a month, and the people who en- 
joyed the means of indulging in such • 
luxuries were^ going to hazard the^' 
loss of all for a petty tax on 
stamped paper, and a tax' upon tea, ; 
a commodity probably unknown to nine- ' 
tenths of the people of the colony. But v 
there was another cause at work, one . 
perhai^s more potent over the actions of ^' 
men, which co-operated with the tax and / 
fanned the flame of resistance, in fact ^ 
gave energy and vitality to the tax; thisi • ' 
was the habitual contempt with which { 
American gentlemen were treated whenj 
ever they had official interjourse with/ ^ 
British officers, both civil and militarv. ^ 

An order in council respecting the rank h^ 
of American military officers was con- -, 
sidered so outrageous to all manly self- 
respect, that Washington, who had struck % 
the first blow in the great war known as the ^ 
seven year's war, threw up his commis- 
sion in disgust. If he served with Brad- nJ 
dock it was only as a volunteer. Brad- ^^ 
dock had the good sense to value the v 
presence of such a man on his expedi- J 
tion, and earnestly solicited his company , 
as a volunteer. It was his misfortune 
that illness prevented the volunteer from 
joining him until it was too late to save 
him.>>f.Colonel Middleton, of South Caro- 
lina, was hardly persuaded by Governer 
Bull to take service under Colonel Grant 
in the Cherokee war; and the Governor, 
himself a Carolinian, knowing Dy expe- 
rience the insolent temper of the British 
officials, gave Colonel Middleton the ex- 
traordinary power of resigning liis com- 
mission whenever he should please. It 
would be an unnecessary digression to 
dwell longer on that history here. 

This spirit of insolence was most offen- 
sively manifested by Governor Thomas 
Boone to the whole Legislature of South 
Carolina, and Mr. Gadsden was, accident- 
ally, an interested party in the trans- 
action. 

It had pleased Governor Boone to re- 
commend an alteration of the election 
laws of the provinces. The Assembly 
not agreeing with the views of the Gov- 
ernor, made no change in the law. Dur- 
ing the session, sometime after the organ- 
ization of the House, Mr. Gadsden pre- 
sented himself for qualification as a 
member for St. Paul's. After his cre- 
dentials were approved by the Assembly, 
he was. according to an old custom, sent ^ 
to the Governor to take before him what ^ 
was called the State oaths, viz: an oath of ^ 
allegience to the King, and an oath ab- > 
juring all cognizance of the right of the 
Stuart familv. When he presented him- 
self before the Governor, the latter not 
only refused to recognize him on account 
of the invaliditv of his election, but dis- 
solved the Commons House of Assembly 
for contumacy. 

In thus determining against the validi- 
ty of Mr. Gadsden's election, Governor 
Boone violated all parliamentary law, and 
established a personal despotism. Wher- 
ever a representative body is known to 
the law, it is invariably the final judge of 



X 



^ 



^c 



the qualification of its members. In the 
next Assembly, which met in December 
of that year, ' 1762, Mr. Gadsden was 
a^ain a member. The Assembly imme- 
diately protested against the illegality of 
the late dissolution, and as the Governor 
would Htake no concessions, they de- 
clared that they would transact no bu- 
siness with him until he sliould concede 
the just claims of the House; and this 
state of defiant hostility continued for 
Cwo years, until Governor Boone, wearied 
with the contest, left the province and 
went home. 

During this suspension of legislative 
business he gave several exhibitions of 
petty and childish insolence which must 
have made a deep impression on a high- 
toned, generous and manly people. Dur- 
ing this session. Sir John Colleton pre- 
sented himself and claimed his seat. After 
his credentials were veritied he was sent 
to the Governor to take the State oaths, 
accompanied by Christopher Gadsden and 
William Moultrie, who were sent accord- 
ing to an old custom, first to certify to the 
Governor that the candidate had been 
duly elected, and then to certify to the 
House that they had witnessed the ad- 
ministering of the oaths to the new mem- 
ber. Governor Boone demanded of 
Messrs. Gadsden and Moultrie what was 
their business there, and on being in- 
formed in what capacity they were there, 
replied that the Assembly had no light to 
intrude visitors upon him, rang the bell, 
and ordered the servant who answei'ed it 
fco conduct these gentlemen out of his 



Government unwisely gave them a pal- 
pable cause of complaint by the passage 
of the stamp act. The colonies were 
greatly excited by the passage of this act, 
and the ferment exhibited itself in several 
of the legislatures. The General Court of 
Massachusetts, in June, 1765, issued a 
circular letter to the several colonies, 
inviting them to meet each other 
by their deputies in New York, in the 
month of October following. In July the 
letter was discussed before the House of 
Assembly. After a long discussion, in 
which the call was supported by Mr. Rut- 
ledge, the subject was referred to a com- 
mittee of which Mr. Gadsden was chair- 
man. The committee reported in favor 
of the proposed Congress, and Christo- 
pher Gadsden, John Rutledge and 
Thomas Lynch, Sen., were elected to re- 
present the Colony. This action of the 
Assembly, Mr. Bancroft regards as tlie 
founding of the American Union by South 
Carolina. "Massaciiusetts, he says, sound- 
ed the trumpet, but to South Carolina is 
it owing that it was attended to. Had it 
not been for South Carolina, no Congress 
would then have happened. When we 
count up those who above others, con- 
tributed to the great result, we are to 
name the inspired madman James Otis, 
and the great statesman, the magnani- 
mous, unwavering, faultless lover of his 
country, Christopher Gadsden." These 
are the words of Bancroft. The measure 
was supported by the eloquence of Rut- 
ledge, but it was the zeal of Gadsden, 
which gave aninuition to the party of as- , 
house. Sir John Colleton was stopped, jistence. In a letter written thirteen vears 



and, it is to be supposed, took the oaths. 
The indignation of the Assembly at this 
outrage offered to them through their 
members may be conceived. At first 
they refused to permit Colleton to take 
his seat, inasmucli as none of their mem- 
bers had seen him take the oaths. They 
relented, however, so far as to permit 
him to testify in his own case. Some 
time afterwards, when Sir John Colleton 
and Mr. Parsons were sent to attend a 
new member for the same purpose, the 
Governer repeated the insult, with an ad- 
ditional outrage. He refused the testi- 
mony of these gentlemen, as to the elec- 
tion of the new member, saying that he 
would examine the roll and judge for 
himself. 

Thus, now, were gentlemen, representa- 
tives of the people, who might be reason- 
ably supposed to represent the most re- 
fined class of the people, rudely dismissed 
from the Governor's housed and their 
testimony refused as untrustworthy. Is 
it surprising that such gentlemen should 
eagerly catch at any opportunity for re- 
venge which offered itself? And' shall we 
be thought to diminish the lustre of their 
fame, when we impute to wounded pride 
the bold determination which they not 
long afterwards made to sever them- 
selves entirely from a Governuient 
which could with impunity thus reck- 
lessly insult them ? 

Whilst the petty and childish insults of 
Governor Boone were still rankling in 
the hearts of these gentlemen, the British 



afterwards to Wm. Henry Drayton, hej 
says; "No man in America ever strove 
more (and more successfully) first to 
bring about a Congress in 1765, and then 
to support it ever afterwards than myself." 
Northern writers are disposed, I know 
not why, to pass over the services of Rut- 
ledge, and ascribe merit in preference to 
any other claimant. I believe, however, 
that in this case, but bare justice has been 
done to Mr. Gadsden. There was at that 
time this difference between his position 
and that of Mr. Rutledge; the latter was 
earnest in hoping for a redress of griev- 
ances ; the former, even then looked for- 
ward to a severance of the tie which 
bound the colonies to the parent State. 

The Congress of 1765 did little besides 
making the several parts of America 
known to each other. Two of the dele- 
gates of South Carolina, Mr. Lynch and 
Mr. Rutledge, were at the head respec- 
tively of the committees to address, the 
one, the House of Lords, the other, the 
Commons of England. Here again, Mr, 
Gadsden gave an exhibition of his stub- 
born consistency. As a subject of the 
King, he wotild address him on the sub- 
ject of the grievances of the people, but 
he would stoop to no petition to either 
House of Parliament. "The House of 
Commons, he said, refused to receive the 
addresses of the Colonies, when the mat- 
ter was pending; besides, we hold our 
rights neither from them nor from the 
Lords," but he was induced at last to 



withdraw his opposition, for, said he, 
union is most certainly all in all. 

It is known that if the aotion of the 
Congress was inoperative, the sturdy- 
opposition of the people caused the re- 
peal of the Stamp Act. From this time 
until the next Congress, in 1774, we tind 
nothing to record of Mr. Gadsden. 
That he was diligently engaged in his 
private business we know, and also that 
he was genex'ally a member of the Com- 
mons House of Assembh'. In 1773, a very 
intelligent gentleman from Boston, Josiah 
Quincy, saw him one day in the House of 
Commons, and recorded a few words of a 
speech which is worth preserving as a 
photograph memorial of the man. In his 
journal, of March 19th, 1773, Mr. Quinc^y 
says: "Spent all the morning in hearing 
the debates of the House; had an oppor- 
tunity of hearing the best speakers of the 
Province. T. Lynch, Esq., spoke like 
a man of sense aiid a patriot, with dignity, 
tire, and laconism. Mr. Gadsden was 
plain, hlunt, hot and incorrect,though very 
sensible. In the course of the debate he 
used these very singular exi)ressior.s tor 
a member of Parliament, 'And, Mr. 
Speaker, if the Governor and Council 
don't see tit to fall in with us, I say let 
the general duty law, and all, go to the 
devil, sir, and we go aboutour business." ' 
It is but a glimpse of the earnest man, 
— but it reveals a world of character — he 
was very unparliamentary, but he was 
very much in earnest. 

We will not repeat the oft- told story 
of British taxation and American re- 
sistance. You remember that a scheme 
was cunnincly devised by which the 
people would be enticed to drink 
their tea and pay the obnoxious dutj'. 
Alarmed at the prospect of seeing a 
whole people recreant to their pledges 
by the allurement of cheap tea, the 
leaders of the revolutionary movement 
organized resistance throughout the 
(!ouutrv against this insidious measure. 
In manv places, in this city among 
(Hhers, the tea was openly put away for 
destruction. In Boston a party of dis- 
guised men went by night to the wharf 
where the tea laden vessels were lying, 
took out the accursed thing and cast it 
into the sea. The open and undisguised 
resistance met with no rebuke ; but as all 
attempts to discover the Boston rioters 
wei-e baffled, the ministry lost their 
temper, and, in an unguarded moinent, 
annulled the charter of Massachusetts, and 
closed the port of Boston, making all 
commerce with that city a punishable 
otfence. 

This high handed act of oppressive 
vengeance acted through the whole 
country like an electric spark. All felt 
that the cause of disfranchised Massa- 
chusetts was the common cause. At the 
call of New York a Congress of the Colo- 
nies met in Philadelphia, in September, 
1774. The Representatives from South 
Carolina were chosen by a general vote 
of the citizens. The first measure of re- 
sistence which suggested itself was a 
general non-importatioD and non-expor- 
tation agreement. This was opposed by 



pleasant 
a redress 
was even 
for inde- 



the mercantile interest generally, ami 
two sets of candidates were presented to 
tl)e voters. Representatives of each were 
elected, Mr. Gadsden, Thomas Lynch, 
and ?::dward Rutledge, representing the 
extreme party; Henry Middleton, and 
John Rutledge, tlie moderate party. Mr, 
Gadsden and J. Rutledge were respec- 
tively the representatives, the first of the 
extreme party for resistance, the 
latter long continued to hope for 
a restoration of the old 
relations with England by 
of greivanaes. The former 
before this time, anxious 
pendence, the latter came very slowly 
and very reluctantly into the 'measure. 
As the delegates elected represented th^e 
two parties, it was agreed that no motion 
or resolution of the Congress should be 
binding uijon the colony, unless it was 
agreed to by the deputies of the colony. 
They went to the Congress unpledged, 
uninstrucied. The people had perfect 
faith in their patriotism and their wisdom. 

It was desired to give the delegates an 
official sanction by legislative action; but 
Gov. Bull had always kept a strict eye 
over the House of Assembly, and inva- 
riably )>rorogued it whenever he thought 
it was treading on dangerous ground. On 
the present occasion it had been pro- 
rogued to the second of August. It was 
an old custom of the House to meet at 10 
o'clock, but now all business had been 
secretly arranged, and at 8 o'clock the 
members were in their seats; a message 
was sent to the Governor, to inform hinri 
of their organization, and they instantly 
adopted two resolutions, one approving 
and confirming the election of the five 
gentlemen whom the people bad chosen, 
and another providing for the expense of 
their voyage. The Governor, informed 
of the unusal meeting of the House, in- 
stantly sent for them to prorogue them. 
But he was too late. In less than half an 
hour the House had met, resolved, and 
was prorogued. 

In this Congress we find Mr. Gadsden 
always acting with those who were fore- 
most in leading on the revolution. Nay, 
he may be said to have been the foremost. 
Fancying that war was inevitable he 
wished to secure to his country all the 
advantages possible, and he urged upon 
the Congress the expediency of at- 
tacking Gen. Gage in Boston at once and 
defeating him before he could obtain re- 
inforcements. He was described by some 
of the members as "if possible, worse 
than ever; more violent, more wrong- 
headed." The non -importation and non 
exportation agreement was passed, with 
an exception in favor of Carolina rice, 
Mr. Rutledge gave good and satisfactory 
reasons for this exception, but Mi*. Gads- 
den stood alone in his opposition to it, and 
even on his return home made efforts to 
have the exception rescinded. Interest 
and expediency were powerless with 
him when principle was involved. 

When the delegates returned home the 
subject of the exception of rice from the 
non-intercourse agreement was discussed, 
and Mr. Gadsden earnestly moved that 



/■ 



the execpttois be repealed. But Mr. Rut- 
ledge insisted that tiie exception was the 
only means by wliich the North and the 
South could be placed on an equality of 
sutt'ering in the non-intercourse measure 
of resistence. It is, perhaps ou account 
of his speech on that occasion that he has 
ever since been made the object of relent- 
less criticism by a certain party at the 
North. 

Hesaii "that be was in favor of im- 
mediate non-intercourse, but the Con- 
gress, in their wisdom, had postponed 
it until the following September. That 
the Northern trade would be but 
little affected by the association, and he 
saw no reason why our's should be 
ruined. It was evident, he said, that the 
Colonies were less intent to annoy the 
mother country in the matter of trade, 
than to preserve tlieir own trade ; so he 
thought it but justice to his constituents 
to preserve to them their trade as entire 
as possible." Itis very remarlcable tljat 
this language should have been used re- 
specting the different positions of the 
North and the South, not only by those 
who were founding the Union, but at the 
very moment the work ot Union was 
going on. 

The exception was retained by the As- 
semblj^ but Mr. Gadsden, though over- 
ruled in this matter, does not seem to 
have lost the confidence of his constitu- 
ents. He and Mr. Rutledge were both 
returned to the Congress of 1775. 

Before that Congress met, the revolu- 
tionary war had commenced in the 
skirmish at Lexington, and the Provin- 
cial Congress immediately set about or- 
ganizing the military force of the 
province. In pursuance of this organiza- 
tion, Mr. Gadsden was elected Colonel of 
the First Regiment of Foot, and Williis.m 
Moultrie of the Second. Both these gen- 
tlemen had seen service in tlie Cherokee 
war, and though elected on the same da^'. 
Colonel Gadsden was the senior of Colonel 
Moultrie, and on his return home to serve 
his country in the arm\', he assumed the 
command of all the forces of the province. 
It appears by a note in Moultrie's Me- 
moirs that he assumed the command in 
February, 1776. 

in March, of that year, it was found 
absolutely necessary to establish civil 
government in South Carolina ; the Pro- 
vincial Congress, therefore, adopted a 
Provisional Constitution, under which 
John Rutledge was elected President of 
South Carolina. It was thus that the call 
of the citizens for their services at 
home, deprived Gadsden and Rutledge, 
her two most eminent citizens, of the 
distinction of enrolling their names 
among the signers of the Declaration of 
Independence. 

Early in June, General Charles Lee 
arrived in Charleston, and assumed the 
general direction of military affairs. 
Colonel Gadsden's post was at Fort John- 
son. Colonel Moultrie was stationed at a 
point on Sullivan's Island, which com- 
manded the entrance into the harbor, and 
Colonel Thompson at the northeast of the 
Island, to prevent the landing of troops 



from Long Island. It is well known tliat 
General Lee looked upon the tenui-e of 
Sullivan's Island as a desperate measure, 
and but for the obstinacy of President 
Rutledge, he would have drawn off the 
troops. He insisted upon the necessity of a 
bridge across the north channel, so that 
the troops might retreat to the main land if 
necessary. This work was accomplished 
at his own expense, by Colonel Gadsden. 
The successful defense of the Island, by 
Colonel Moultrie and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Thompson, deprived Colonel Gadsden of 
any participation in the honors of the 
28th of June. During the calm which 
followed the storm of war, we have little 
to record. Both Colonels were soon after- 
wards taken into the Continental service 
and commissioned as Brigadier-Generals. 
In August, 1777, General Gadsden re- 
signed his commission and served hia 
country afterwards entirely in civil life. 

e succe!isful defence of the islan^Jay 
ColSf^l Moultrie and LiieutenAnt-pdtonel 
Thomp*^, deprived Colonel Gsfasden of 
any partiCT^ation in the iKmors of the 
28th June. During th^-^tion which fol- 
lowed the storm'>'^Av^ we have little to 
record. Both c^ionei^were soon after- 
wards taken^tfu) the Cb«itinental service, 
and compoissioned as brigHdier-generals. 
In Augtist, 1777, General (>»4sden re- / 
sien<»S his commission and s^lrv^d hia/ 
country afterwards entirely in civiTTM^ 
The accidental preservation and dis- " 
covery of a small letter-book shed a ray 
of light upon both his own history and 
that of the State during the years 1777 
and 1778, and with this precious relic be- 
fore one it is very hard to resist the 
temptation to make full copies of hia 
letters. 

The resignation of General Gadsden 
and the duel which arose out of it be- 
tween him and General Howe, is an 
episode in the lives of both these gentle- 
men, of so remarkable a character, that 
one who undertakes to give the history 
of General Gadsden's life can scarcely 
refuse to narrate it. With every disposi- 
tion to see General Gadsden alwaj-s right, 
I am constrained to sa^"- that in this mat- 
ter he appears to me to have been wrong. 
But he was, if I may so express myself, 
gloriously wx-ong. In the annals of pri- 
vate warfare there was neyer exhibited 
such pure chivalry, such perfect devotion 
to the point of honor as was shown by 
him on this occasion. Major Andre, who 
seems to have had a keen sense of hu- 
mour, amused himself and the public by 
a humorous ballad on the occasion of the 
duel; but though the British officer 
laughed, he could not but show the pro- 
found respect with which he was in- 
spired by the high and gallant bearing of 
the two gentlemen who furnished food 
for his mirth. The account of the meet- 
ing deserves to be studied by those per- 
sons who in these modern times have 
converted the chivalrous settlement of 
the point of honor into a barbarous and 
sanguinary riot. 

The origin of the dispute lay in the 
unsettled relations between the States 
and the Congress. When General Lee 



41 



(jrv^'*-'" 









arrived in Charleston, in June, 1776, the 
general direction of military affairs was 
committed to bim, but tbe Executive re- 
linquished none of bis rights as com- 
mauder-in Chief. Thus President Kut- 
ledge wrote to General Moultrie, "General 
Lee wishes you to evacuate the fort. You 
will not, without an order fron^ me, and 
I would sooner cut off my right hand 
than write one." 

Not long after tbe action of fort Moul- 
tiie, General Lee left Charleston for his 
mad expedition against Florida. He 
bad Howe and Moultrie in bis army. 
Colonel Gadsden was probably left in 
defence of the city. Lee had not pro- 
ceeded further than Savannah when an 
express called bim to join Washington 
at tbe North; he obeyed the orde^', went 
Noith, aad immedia ely entered upon 
that course of capr'cious opposition 
to tbe Commander-in-Chief which 
resulted in hia rediculous capture 
by a scouting pa^ty of tbe Brit- 
ish army. On his return through 
Charleston be left General Moore in com- 
mand, with a body of North Carolina 
troops. Moore was succeeded by Nash, 
pnd on bis departure Geaeral Howe, the 
senior oflQcer, assumed the command. 
He was from North Carolina, and by his 
own account well connected in both the 
Ca.olinas. On the 29th October, 1776, he 
published in orders the promotion of 
Colonels Gadsdei and Moultrie to tbe 
rank of Brigadier-General, and assigned 
to them their respective commands, that 
of General Gadsden being on Sullivan's 
Island. On the 23d August, 1777, General 
Gadsden resigned his commission into 
the hands of General Howe. Unforlu- 
nate?v, while General Gadsden has pre- 
served for us General Howe's report of 
the affair, he did not take tbe same pains 
to p.rserve his reply to General Howe. 
He had a piofound reverence for the 
Congress, and it was this reverence which 
induced him to send his resignation to 
General Howe, and not as many other 
aggrieved officers had done — directly to 
Congress. He supposed thatsome inquiry 
would be made by the Congress as to the 
cause of bis resignation, and he v/as buit 
at its being received without any coui- 
ment. As he was in a manner the origi- 
nator of tbe Congress, be felt that his 
resignation ou;^ht not to have been 
accepted without his being al.'owed a.i 
opportunity of vindicating himself. He 
wrote often and confidentially to his 
friend Wm. Henry Drayton, and through 
bim received in Juoe, 1778, a copy of 
Howe's letter to Congress. To this letter 
the General replied in a letter dated July 
4, to Wm. Henry Drayton, a copy of 
which was sent to General Howe. This 
letter, in his subsequent correspondence, 
he refers to continually as a Public letter, 
and perhaps it was because he so con- 
sidered it, that he took no pains to pre- 
serve it. Unfortunately, Mr. Drayton did 
not so consider it, and made no effort to 
publish it among tbe members of Con- 
gress. This letter was the cause of the 
duel between the two Generals. 
General Howe says that about four 



months before the date of his letter, that 
is about May 1. after he had been more 
than six months in undisputed command 
of this post, General Gadsden desired to 
know by what right he commanded, and 
claimed that he himself was tbe natural 
commander in South Carolina. General 
Howe explained to him his right, and 
showed the error ?nto which General 
Gadsden bad fallen respecting conflicting 
claims of right. On the request of the 
latter that the matter be referred to Con- 
gress, General Howe replied that as he 
bad no doubt respecting his own right he 
would express none, but if the other 
desired it he would communicate -hose 
doabts to Congress as his, and this was 
assented to. At a subsequent interview 
a few days afterward General Howe was 
led to believe that General Gadsden Wc*s 
now satisfied as to his right, and the letter 
was not written. One day in August they 
met at the liouse of President Lowndes, 
and General Gadsden inquired whether 
the letter had been written as bad been 
agreed, and on General Howe replying in 
the negative and giving his reasons for 
not havingdone it, he said that tbe ma;ter 
sbi>!7ld be brought before the House of 
Assembly. A motion was accordingly 
made shortly after by Wm. Henry Dray- 
ton, to inquire into tbe nature of Gen. 
Howe's command in this State. Tbe motion 
was, in my opinion, very pioperly re- 
fected, and Gen. Gadsden immediately 
resigned his commission into Gen. Howe's^ 
hands. This is a brief of Gen. Howe's 
letter, and I do not believe there was any 
s*^atement in it, which Gen. Gadsden con- 
tradicted. The rest of the story shall be 
told in his own words: 
^ "On the 11th of August, I received by the 
General's Aide-de-Camp, a long expostu- 
latory letter, dated two days before, with 
demand for satisj'action at the clr e, 
unless I made bim reparation for the ex- 
p; essions I had made use of, relative to 
him in my letter of tbe 4ib of July. I 
wrote for answer next morning, that, I 
was ready to give him any satisfactioi he 
thought proper, when and wbeje be 
pleased. That I thought bim the aggres- 
sor in having wrote such an unnecessary 
detail of that mater in it, omitting my 
principal objection, and e^'pecially for not 
letting me, whom it so nearly concerned, 
have a copy of it, and that be bad nobody 
to blame but himself— hat I never saw 
his detail, which had such immediate 
effect, for ten months after the date of it, 
Turee letters ''rom him and ; wo from me 
passed before tbe matter came to a point. 
In bis, he gave me assurance that be did 
not mean in anything he said to reject 
upon or injure me, and as to the breach 
of promise I accused him of, be declared 
be really understood me as he had set 
forth, so that if there was a fault, his un- 
derstanding and not his integrity was to 
blame; and had he imagined I wished to 
see his letter, he should most cheerfully 
have sent it to me; that be had not the 
least wish to conceal it from me. My 
friends. Col. Elliott and Col. Horry, who 
were the only persons that had tbe least 
hint of this affair from me, seemed to 



4 









think this a great concession, and re- 
quired some notice or apology on my side, 
and our friend Col. Pinckney, who was 
the General's second, appeared to be of 
the same opinion. But I, looking upon 
it only as private and personal to me; 
and whereas the expressions of me, he 
particularly referred to, (of my letter to 
you) related to the manner of a public 
act, his getting as it seemed to me, in 
command here, and as I did not see how 
it was possible with any kind of propriety 
or adherance to truth, to abstract the 
private letter from the public, I deter- 
mined to make no concession, but to 
meet him in any manner he pleased. 
Accordingly we met on the 30th . and 
were placed at the distance of eight very 
small paces. As the General demanded 
satisfaction of me, and I had already 
taken mine by exposing his letter with 
my observations thereon, I was deter- 
mined to receive his fire, which I accord- 
ingly did — after some time, fired my 
pistol broad off, and called him to fire 
again, which he declined. The matter 
thus being over, I thought the apology, 
or rather the notice my friends seemed to 
think due on his concessions, would 
come in with propriety, I thereofore told 
him that though I might perhaps men- 
tion the matter again, yet he might be 
assured that I shall never in future, make 
use of anv harsh exfK>s«i'©s concerning 
him." " ..^ ,, 'iu'.-.' 

This narration, compiled from original 
sources, shows that Dr. Johnson was in 
error in stating in his Traditions of the 
Revolution that the duel arose out of 
strictures by Gen. Gadsden of Howe's 
conduct of the Florida expedition. I 
will supplement this account of the mat- 
ter with an extract trora i.he South Caro- 
linian and American General Gazette, 
dated Charleston, September 3, 1778. 
This repoi-t needs no comment from us, 
and I would commend it to the attentive 
perusal of those gentlemen who, in 
modern times, have lost sight of the high 
principle involved in the duel, and con- 
verted it into a means of blood thirsty 
revenge: 

"After the generals met and courteous- 
ly saluted each other. General Howe de- 
sired his second to acquaint his friends, 
in case he should fall, that it was his earn- 
est request they should not prosecute 
General Gadsden beyond the formality of 
a trial, and General Gadsden desired 
both the seconds to acquaint his friends, 
in case he should fall, that he entirely 
forgave General Howe, and earnestly 
begged them not to prosecute him; and he 
particularly enjoined Colonel Pinckney 
to charge his son not to intermeddle in 
the aflair at all. General Howe's second 
then stepped off the distance fixed upon 
by him and Colonel Elliott — eight short 
paces — and the Generals being placed. 
Colonel Ellliott said: Gentlemen, we 
have marked out your distance, and 
leave you to act as you please, 
not doubting but that, as this is 
an affair of honor, you will act consist- 
ently with the strictest rules of hon- 
or. General Howe then said to General 



Gadsden, 'Fire, sir.' General Gadsden 
said, 'Do you fire first.' General Howe 
replies, 'We will both fire together.' 
General Gadsden made no answer, but 
both presented. There was a pause for a 
few seconds, and General Howe lowered 
his pistol and said, with a smile, 'Why 
won't you fire. General Gadsden?' Gen- 
eral Gadsden replied, 'You brought me 
out, General Howe, to this ball-play, and 
ought to begin the entertainment.' Gen- 
eral Howe fired and missed. General 
Gadsden, after a short interval, fired his 
pistol over his left arm, about at right 
angles from General Howe, and then 
called out to General Howe to fire again. 
General Howe smiled, and at the same 
time dropping his hand, with the pistol 
in it, said, 'No, General Gadsden, I can- 
not, after this.' General Gadsden's sec- 
ond said he was glad to see so much 
honor in the General; that he did not 
think General Gadsden could have made 
a handsomer apology, or General Howe 
have shown a higher sense of honor than 
in acting as he had done. Then Gen- 
eral Gadsden went up to him and said: 
'Now, General Howe, I will mention to 
you what I could not do before, as my 
letter was a public one, and the words 
contained in it seemed to me proper; and 
as your's was a private one,the parts in it 
which, in the opinion of my fiiends, left 
an opening for an apology, I could not 
take notice of; but I told my friend 
in the carriage, before I came on the 
ground that I intended to receive your 
fire; and though I may, perhaps, "talk 
this matter over again, I assure you I 
shall never in future make use of any 
harsh expressions concerning you.' Gen- 
eral Howe said that it was very agreeable 
to him that the matter terminated in this 
way, and he was happy that he had 
missed him. General Gadsden's second 
said he hoped now the differences that 
had occasioned this duel might now sub- 
side and be left on that spot. The Gene- 
rals, then, in token of this reconciliation, 
shook hands and parted." 

The letters which have been my guide 
in the history of this duel show General 
Gadsden during the same year as a magis- 
trate; and we still find the same indom- 
itable courage in the discharge of duty, 
the same high regard for principle, and 
the same respect for law and authority 
which marked every incident of his 
life. 

It must be remembered that in March, 
1776, the Provincial Congress establishad 
a provisional constitution for the govern- 
of the province during the continuation 
of the unhappy disputes with the parent 
country. Under this constitution John 
Rutledge was elected President, and 
Henry Laurens Vice-President of South 
Carolina. In March, 1778 the Legis- 
ture enacted a new constitution, and sub- 
mitted it to the President for his approval, 
Mr. Rutlege refused to approve of it, and 
returned it to the Legislature with his 
reasons. It is oat of our province to ex- 
amine these reasons. Some cavillers 
have inferred from a part of his speech 
that he still hoped for a reconciliation 



with Britain. Of this calumuN'- his subse- 
quent history is a sufficient refutation. 
In order that the Legislature might have 
free liberty of action, his veto messai^e 
contained, also, his resignation. As the 
A'^ice-President, Mr. Laurens, was, at 
that time, President of the Continental 
Congress, it was necessary to elect en- 
tirely new executive officers. Mr. 
Rawlins Lowndes was elected Presi- 
dent, and General Gadsden Vice-Presi- 
dent, and ex-offlcio chairman of the Privy 
Council. I said at the outset that he 
must have been a bad party man. Here 
we have a little proof of it from his own 
pen. In one of his letters to Mr. Drayton 
he asserts that this honor was con- 
ferred upon him for the purpose of getting 
rid of him at future meetings of the 
House of Assembly, and to make him 
ineligible to the next. He says: " I saw 
plainly their views, but could not avoid 
accepting without throwing the State into 
confusion. But this I did not do without 
letting them know I plainly perceived 
their motives," 

Towards the end of March, 1778, the 
Legislature had passed an ordinance ex- 
acting an oath of fidelity and allegience, 
imposing severe penalties upon those 
who should refuse or neglect to take it by 
a certain day. Like all severe acts, it 
was imperfectly executed. The time had 
expired, and there were many delinquents. 
At the suggestion of the General Congress 
and the Privy Council, President 
Lowndes issued a proclamation to extend 
the time for taking the oath. This act of 
indulgence gave rise to scenes w'hich be- 
trayed the weakness ot the Government, 
and the existence in the city of a power 
superior to the law. 'Whether the 
proclamation was printed I know not. 
I do not find it in the gazettes of the day, 
but there is extant a letter from Gover- 
nor Gadsden, who in consequence of the 
illness and domestic affliction of Mr. 
Lowndes, was discharging Executive bu- 
siness. to Mr. Timothy, making an earn- 
est appeal to him to print tift3' copies. 
This letter savours more of a petition 
asking a fayor than the order of a Magis- 
trate for the performance of work. The 
rest of the story is best told in General 
Gadsden's own words: "It, (the procla- 
mation) was scarcely got into the Sheriff's 
hands, before some myrmidons alarmed 
the town. We were setting up a procla- 
mation against law— going to ruin their 
liberties— and what not? The proclama- 
tion, I believe, was never read. A depu- 
tation was sent to the President, of Dr. 
Budd, and some others. The proclama- 
tion was returned to him in my presence, 
which of itself is insult enough, biit be- 
sides that, the spokesman, Ward, told 
the President that he thought the people 
were right, and that he would lose the 
last drop of his blood to support them. 
This I thought so high an insult that I 
immediately began with Ward, sarcasti- 
cally applauded his heroism and great 
exertions for the public good. In return 
he told me I was a madman, but first 
took care to sneak out of my reach, how- 
ever. Had he not, I should have done 



nothing more, as I was prepared — than 
what I did — laugh in his face. 

The President did all that he could do, 
but to no purpose. A meeting was called 
in the evening. Dr. Budd put in the chair, 
every press prohibited from printing the 
proclamation, and the magistrates de- 
terred from granting certificates to the 
penitent. At this crisis. I, Don Quixote 
Secundus, who had never acted the mag- 
istrate before, gave out publicly that I 
would give the oath of fidelity, and cer- 
tificates to all applicants by the 10th, and 
accordingly did to many. I was in the 
midst of the people when I found them 
chiefly a mere mob, with here and there 
some who ought not to have been, and I 
was sorry to see there; and had reason 
to suspect that day much negative im- 
pulse. I told them I advised the measure, 
and that they should put a halter around 
my neck and hang me at once if they 
thought it wrong. That they had a con- 
stitutional remedy. They might impeach 
the President and Council if they had 
acted improperly, and that they had bet- 
ter do that. But all to no purpose. In 
my opinion, if they wore not set on, the 
old leven was at heart, sorry for it." 

General Gadsden further on intimates 
that the parties engaged in the riotous 
opposition to the President were ashamed 
of their conduct. But certain it is, that 
the President was successfully resisted 
by a mob, and the proclamation was not 
published. The truth was that the peo- 
lile were never satisfied with the resig- 
nation of President Rutledge, and their 
feelings were shown in factious op- 
position to his successor. In Sep- 
tember the Legislature met, and 
President Lowndes sent in his 
message an account of the riots in op- 
position to his proclamation. The 
House of Assembly seemed to be un- 
willing to deal with the subject, and after 
the lapse of a month, referred it to the 
consideration of the next House, that is, 
to one which, according to the constitu- 
tion, would be be elected in the following 
January. Whereupon General Gadsden 
wrote the following letter to the Hon. 
Thomas Bee, Speaker of the Commons 
House of Assembly, October 5, 1778: 

•'Dear Sir: The honorable House, 
thinking proper, atter having had his 
Exce'lency the President's message, rel- 
ative to his proclamation of the 5th June, 
and the outrageous treatment it met with 
from a part of the people of Charleston, a 
month before them, to postpone the mat- 
ter to the next House, in parliamentary 
language, 'ad Grecas Calendas, consider- 
ing the part I acted, in earnestly advising 
that step, in which I am conscious of 
having done nothing improper, I submit 
it to tiie House, how they think I must 
feel, under such, at least negative censure, 
especially after the deliberately gross 
treatment the Executive received from a 
body of men, mentioned in no part of the 
constitution, as I can recollect, who call 
themselves the Hint club. 

The contemptible, surprising and use- 
less situation with regard to the public, 
I find myself reduced to, upon this oc- 



9 



casioii, lays me uiidor the necessity of Believe ine, sir, the exquisite reelinj;s 
entreating vou to request the honorable arising from a consciousness of having 
House for the public salie as well as my acted in this steady, uniform manner in 
own to deliver me from it by accepting public life, has made me more than 
my 'resignation as Vice-President. It amjjle amends for every neglect,every dis- 
may not be proper for me, perhaps, to let agreeable circumstance it has occasioned 
my feelings carry me further; am there- through selfish, ambitious, arbitrary, and 
fore resigned to stop here, if sir, you <lesigning men wliose private views have 
think my particular reasons following been occasionally thwarted thereby. 1 
too free, or will give ottense to the House, have served with pleasure under the 
which I would be sorry to be thought President and witness to his indefatiga- 
capable of intending. But if 3'ou judge ble attention to the public interest, not 
not and the House will bear with the only in his present, but in several other 
remonstrance of an old and faithful ser- important stations on very trying occa- 
yant I shall then be obliged to you to lay sions; have long and well known his 
them before them." honest, sensible lieart and fixed attach- 
The letter is very long, and must not ments to the public good, feel extremely 
be quoted at length. It fully justifies for his delicate situation, and most earn- 
Mr. Quincy's discription of his style as estly wish, for my countr3^'s sake, that he 
plain, blunt, hot and incorrect, though had that support he so much merited 
very sensible. He begins by avowing from every good and honest man in the 
himself tlie adviser of the proclamation, State, and to which as a private citizen I 
then shows the evil of mob law and its am hopeful to contribute my mite. In a 
inevitable tendency to degrade and nul- public station, as times go, I can afford 
lify the legitimate government. He re- none. Give leave to conclude, with de- 
fers casually as to a thing well known to daring that had I not thus shown my 
the circumstances which led to his elec- public resentment in the strongest man- 
tion as Vice-President and the reasons ner I am able, against the proceedings 
which induced him to accept it, and he lastly represented by the President in 
concludes with this touching and manly his message of the 3d of September, I 



defence of his whole life: "I have had, 
without asking or soliciting any man's 
vote, directly or indirectly, the honor to 
serve my country for many years in va 



should have ever thought myself accoun- 
table for all the riots and mobs through- 
out the State that may happen in conse- 
quence of that which happened in 



rious stations, always totally devoted to Charlestown, the 5th of June, and as 

that particular part occasionally alloted having abetted the artful opposers and 

to me — never quitting it while the least disturbers of the peace, by negatively at 

hope remained of having that necessary least, assisting them in their indirect, un- 

support the station required. Zealous derhanded practicings in the weakest 

and attentive in all to the honor of the part of the Constitution, the present 

Ijublic and their nearest concerns; un- allowed dispoportion of members iu order 

biased either by friend or foe — intimidat- to throw all into confusion, and when an 

ed by none — constantly attending to mj- opportunity serves, get the whole new 



duty while a member of Assembly — mak- 
ing no promises, but always keeping my- 
self disengaged upon every ques- 
tion for every officer whatever 



modelled more to tlieir gout, and 
as sacrificing the duty I owe as otiicer to 
the whole State, to the idle tickling of a 
momentarj'^ popularity with a too assum- 



wanted for any department of the State ing small part." 

or concerning any other matter of Without pretending to decide the 

moment, 'till it came before the House, merits of the controversy between the 

and then voted according to my own. President and Gen. Gadsden and tha 

judgment for the good of the whole. House of Assembly, I take pleasure in 

always thinking it cowardly to leave the recording that the latter body was 

House on a division upon any question composed of gentlemen. Not only 

whatever, unless it merely concerned were they not aggrieved at the 

myself, or I really did not understand the rebuke which the Vice-President 

terms it was put in. Seldom, upon administered to them, but thej^ unani- 

making a motion, have I previously mously sent a deputation to entreat him 

secured even a second, but more than to withdraw his resiKuation. An extract 

this I always looked upon as caballing, from a letter to Mr. Drayton will explain 

warping men's judgments, and a kind of his conduct, and conclude the history of 

ti-eason against, or at best pitifully and this affair: "The House met according 

dirtily crimping for the State; and if I to adjournment, very few members in- 

now towards the close of a long, disin- deed ; the President made a verj^ proper 

terested and laborious service ask any and spirited representation of the be- 

favor, either of individuals or the public havior of the mob in Charleston on the 

in general, let it be only to be looked 5th of June, which mob was ostensibly 

upon as a citizen detesting licentiousness on account of his proclamation, but 

and totally devoted to the cause of really (as I am verily persuaded) artfully 

equal constitutional libertj', religious and stirred up and set a going by a cabal, 

civil to all, governor and governed, and The House, after having it before them a 

having not a desire, (and who never had) month, through the influence of the 

for himself and family in these respects, Town members, put it ofi' to the next 

that he does not from the bottom of his House. In the meantime the President 

soul wish for every honest man in the and Privy Council are to put up with the 

State, and indeed in all the world. insult, f was much afraid Mr. Lowndes 



10 



would have resigned, whicli would have 
put the State into great confusion, and 
would have given the party, wlio were 
hopeful that officers would not have been 
found to set the new Constitution agoing, 
the utmost pleasure. The resignation of 
the Council would have done the same ; 
as for my part, as Vice-President, and a 
new election so near at hand, I thought 
my resignation could be of little moment 
to the State, and at the same time think- 
ing it would beof some si'ood consequence 
that some part of the Executive should 
show a feeling upon so monstrous an in- 
sult as they received; I thought myself 
in a manner peculiarly called upon to do 
it, from my station, and accordinglj' 
wrote the within letter to the Speaker, 
which was laid before the Hoiise, who, I 
thought, would have accepted my resig- 
nation immediately. However, I was 
mistaken, for they did me the honor 
unanimously to send two members to 
desire T would continue. This I could 
not refuse, therefore still remain in statu 
quo, and am not without reason to think 
my letter has done some good that may 
appear in future." 

In January, 1779, the Legislature met 
in pursuance of the provisions of the new 
Constitution. In the same month, John 
Rutledge was elected Governor and 
Thomas Bee Liieutenant-Governor. At 
what time Gen. Gadsiien was elected to 
the latter office does not appear, but it was 
probably in 1780, when Thomas Bee was 
sent to Congress and the approach of the 
invading English army caused the Legis- 
lature to adjourn, after having conferred 
upon Governor Rutledge those extraor- 
dinary powers which have since given 
him the title of Dictator. It may be ob- 
served, in passing, that this extraordinary 
power, conferred by the Legislature, is a 
sufficient reply to those malignant cavil- 
lers who see "in Rutledge's veto of the 
Constitution a longing to go back to 
British rule, and in his parley with Gen- 
eral Prevost, in 1779, a treasonable attempt 
to effect the same object. 

Whilst the siege of Charleston was 
going on, General Lincoln pressingly 
iirged Governor Rutledge to leave tha 
town with the whole of his Council, 
thinking that the civil authority of the 
State would be more advantageously exe- 
cuted in the country than in the besieged 
metropolis, and that thus the executive 
authority might be preserved, even if 
the Capital should fall— that the citizens 
in the country should not conceive them- 
selves deserted in the hour of danger. 
In pursuance of this advice, Governor 
Rutledge left Charleston April 12, 1780, 
with three of the Privy Council. Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Gadsden, with the other 
five, remained, to await the issue of the 
siege. A month afterwards. May 12, 
Lincoln surrendered his army, and by 
tlie terms of capitulation, Lieutenant- 
Governor Gadsden, together wdth all 
others who held any civil authority, were 
held as prisoners of war on parole. 

It is needless to say that General Gads- 
den, though a prisoner, was firm to the 
cause of independence. Though restrain- 



ed by their paroles from doing anything 
injurious to the cause of His Britannic 
Majesty, yet the silent example of him- 
self and others who fell with hiin, men 
who were revered by their fellow-citizens, 
had a powerful intluence in restraining 
many from exchanging their paroles as 
prisoners for the protection and freedom 
of British subjects. After the unsuccess- 
ful attempt of General Gates to relieve 
the State, Lord Cornwallis regarded it as 
aconquered province, and utterly violated 
the terms of the capitulation. On the 27th 
August, General Gadsden, most of the 
civil officers of the State, and some others, 
whose attachment to the cause of the Rev- 
olution was conspicuous, were taken,, 
early in the morning, from their beds 
and their houses, and escorted by armed 
parties to the Exchange, whence they 
were sent to a guard ship, and a few days 
afterwards to St. Augustine. 

This was a gross violation of the capit- 
ulation. General Moultrie, from his 
quarters in Christ Church Parish, whither 
he had been assigned on parole, wrote to 
Colonel Balfour to protest against the out- 
rage; to which the commandant replied, 
that his letter was writien in such excep- 
tionable and unwarrantable terms that it 
should not be answered. Nothing daunt- 
ed by this repulse, the General made an- 
other effort in behalf of the unfortunate 
prisonei's, to which he received a verbal 
answer, that the commandant would do 
as he pleased with the prisoners, for the 
good of His Majesty's service, and not as 
General Moultrie pleases. 

On their arrival at St. Augustine, the 
prisoners were offered the liberty of the 
town on their parole. This General Gads- 
den indignantly refused to give. " I gave 
ray parole once," he said, ** and it has 
been shamefully violated by the British 
Government; I shall not give another to 
people on whom no faith can be reposed." 
He was told that a dungeon would be the 
alternative. "Be it so," be answered, 
" I give no more paroles to British offi- 
cers." The next day he was confined in 
a dungeon of the castle, were he remained 
forty-two weeks. A common soldier, 
honoring the inyincible firmness of the 
hero, offered to supply him with light- 
for he was allowed no other light but that 
of day, as this was contrary to orders, 
the General refused to accept the offer. 
Among other objects to which he devoted 
his enforced leisl^re was the study of the 
Hebrew tongue, and he came out of the 
dungeon a more learned man than when 
he entered it. 

British severity did not deny them 
books, but the prisoners were studiously 
kept misinformed respecting affairs at 
home. The prospects of America were 
brightening, but they were led to believe 
that ruin was hanging over them. They 
were threatened with being called upon to 
expiate the death of Major Andre. They 
i:)atiently endured all threats and out- 
rages, and not one sued for British pro- 
tection. 

After ten months of seclusion, General 
Gadsden was liberated and sent with his 
fellow-prisoners to Philadelphia. So 



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strictly hv.d they been kept in ignorance 
of the progress of the war that it was not 
until they reached Philadelphia that they 
heard of Greene's successful campaigns 
after the disastrous defeat of Gates. Gen. 
Gadsden hastened home to assist in re- 
covering South Carolina from the Brit- 
ish, and was immediately elected a mem- 
ber of tlie Legislature, which met iu 
Jacksonboro, 1782. Governor Rutledge, 
laid down his office before the Legisla- 
ture, and Gen. Gadsden was elected to 
the vacant place. He declined the honor, 
however, saying : 
" I have served you in a variety of sta- 
"" , tions for thirty years, and I would now 
\ cheerfully make one forlorn hope on 
? an assault on the lines of Charleston, if 
J it was probable that with the certain loss 
J- of my life you would be reinstaied in 
^ your capital. What I can do for my coun- 
JL try, I am willing to do. My sentiments 
»- for the American cause, from the Stamp 
r Act downward, have never changed. I 
^ am still of oiDinion tliat it is the cause of 
J liberty and of human nature. If my ac- 
L ceptance of the office of Governor would 
p serve my country, tliough my adminis- 
p tration would be attended with the loss of 
^ personal credit and reputation, I would 
cheerfully undertake it. The present 
times require the vigor and the activity 
of the prime of life ; but I feel the in- 
creasing infirmities of age to such a de- 
gree that I am conscious I cannot serve 
you to advantage. I therefore beg that 
you would indulge me with the liberty of 
declining the arduous trust." 

He was indulged in his i-equest. But 
though he declined the office of Chief 
Magistrate, he continued to serve the 
State both in the Assembly and in the 
Council. Notwithstanding the long con- 
finement which he had suffered in the 
castle of St. Augustine, and the immense 
loss of property which the war had caused 
him, he was one of the few who, in the 
Jacksonboro Legislature, opposed the 
bills for confiscating and amercing the 
estates of those who had opposed the rev- 
olution. In December of that year he 
had the satistaction of witnessing the de- 
parture from Charleston of the British 
fleet and army, and the consequent resto- 
ration of the whole State to the govern- 
ment of her own citizens. From this 
time forward his life was devoted to pri- 
vate pursuits, except in two cases. In 
1788 he was a member of the Convention 
which ratified the Constitution. To this 
object, all the aspirations of his life were 
devoted. He had in 1765 founded the 
American Union by his exertions in the 
Provincial Assembly, and he had the 
pleasure, twenty-three years afterwards, 
to assist in ratifying it by an act which he 
fondly hoped would make that Union 

« perpetual. In 1790 he was a member of 
Convention which formed the new Con- 

I stitution of the State. He was now sixty- 
six years of age, and he lived fifteen years 
longer a private citizen with the good 



old man's blessings— love, honor, obedi- 
ence, troops of friends. In August, 1805, 
an accidental fall deprived him of life. ., J^ /^L. 

In compliance with the instructions'; , ... 
contained in his Will, his body was de- '^•^^'^ '' 
posited in the family cemetery, in the V^ ^/^ 
western church yard of St. Philip's, and ( / y 
the grave levelled — no stone marks the V'^*^ ^t 
spot of his final resting place. -'^^X,.^*- 

In reviewing the history of a country, 
we remember those only who have done ^/^/^ ^ 
deeds that fire the imagination of the his- ^ 
torian. Brilliant talents dazzle for a day, 
and secure for their possessor the plaudits 
of contemporaries, but when time stills 
the echo of applause, the memory of the 
popular favorite jDasses away, and poster- 
ity regards his name with listless curi- 
osity. 

We cannot claim for the hero of our 
sketch the performance of any of those 
great actions which are among the land- 
marks of history, and outside of South, 
Carolina his name is probably in the great L 
catalogue of undistinguished celebrities T 
who shone for a day, and then passed into . 
oblivion. But iu South Carolina he has 
a claim to our fond regard, not so much 
for what he did as for what he so largely 
helped to do. If, in the history of our 
country, the South, and South Carolina, 
has had an undue share of influence in 
guiding the political bark, it was the re- 
sult, not of the brilliant talents, but of 
the solid character of her representatives. . 
They were felt to be men who might be 
trusted; who had noselfish ends to carry; 
who had but one rule of action in both 
private and public life, and that was de- 
votion to truth and to right. Men who 
act thus are representative men — a poor 
constituency can never send such men to 
represent them. They choose men like 
themselves. 

A good public sentiment is formed by 
the influence of the men who stand at the 
head of society. As they direct, the 
masses think and act; and here is South 
Carolina largely indebted to Christopher 
Gadsden. He was the soul of honor. 
His youth and early manhood were spent 
where corruption in high places had 
reached its highest point in England; but 
his pure spirit shrank from contamina- 
tion. He was the soul of integrity. The 
natural effect of the Revolution was to 
produce anarchy, and disobedience to law 
and authority. The wise spirit of Chris- 
topher Gadsden saw the danger and re- 
sisted it, and in his own person set the 
highest example of obedience. He was a 
living illustration of dutv. It was not he 
alone that moulded public sentiment; no 
one man could do it; but he was foremost 
among those who were unconsciouslv en- 
gaged in that good and noble work," and 
to no one is more applicable the motto 
proposed by Major Gorden as his epi- 
taph: 

In difficillimis Reipublicse temporibus 
urbem nunquam deserui, in prosperis 
nihil de publico delibaui; in desperatis 
nihil timui— [Cic. 



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